Machine for skinning meat



Jan. 30,1951 E. K. HlcKMAN ET AL 2,539,592

v MACHINE FOR SKINNING MEAT Filed Sept. 16, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet l `Ilan. 30, 1951 E. K. HlcKMAN ET A1. 2,539,692

MACHINE FOR SKINNING MEAT Filed sept. 16, 194e 4 sheets-sheet 2 Y IIIIIIIIIIIIIIIII :Z0

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Jan. 30, 1951 E. K, HICKMAN ET AL 2,539,692

MACHINE FOR SKINNING MEAT l Filed Sept. 16, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 3 Jan. 30, 1951 E. K. HlcKMAN ETAL 2,539,692

MACHINE FOR SKINNING MEAT Filed Sept. 16, 1946 4 Sheets-Sheet 4 Patented Jan. 30, 1951 UNITED STATES MACHINE FOR SKINNING MEAT Elbert K. Hickman, Brighton, and Joseph B. iinbischer, Rochester, N. Y.

Application September 16, 1946, Serial No. 697,242

` 11 Claims.

The present invention relates to apparatus for Skinning pork products and particularly to apparatus for skinning or derinding smoked pork cuts such as bacon.

It is the practice in packing plants to skin both fresh and smoked pork products. The skinning or derinding has to be done carefully; otherwise there will be considerable waste of valuable meat product, for while the skin can be rendered to provide a product of value, its worth is much less than the worth of the edible portion of the meat.

Heretofore, separate types of machines have been required for Skinning fresh and smoked pork products. The machines built for skinning fresh cuts, such as fat backs, shoulders, bellies, etc. will not take cuts of uniform thickness on bacon. Bacon rind is hard and stiff; the tissue of the'bacon is firm and rigid; and slabs are not of uniform thickness. The machines either remove meat with rind or they do not take olf the rind evenly. On the other hand, the machines which are built to derind bacon tend to dig in and take out too thick a cut if used for Skinning a fresh pork product. In either case, if the machine is not used for the purpose for which it is built, it will not operate eiiiciently and a poor job is done or a lot of good meat is wasted. This means a serious loss, for in a packing plant a pork carcass is bought by the pound, and a loss in poundage of choice cuts means a serious loss in proflts.

The primary object of the present invention is to provide a machine which can be used efficiently both for Skinning fresh pork and derinding smoked pork.

Another object of the invention is to provide a machine which can be used for Skinning either fresh or smoked pork and which will cost but little more than the machines heretofore built specifically for Skinning soft pork and much less than the machines of previous constructions that have been built specifically for dernding bacon and other smoked pork products.

A still further object of the invention is to provide an attachment for a known type of fresh pork skinning machine which will permit of that machine being used to derind smoked pork also.

Other objects of the invention will be apparent hereinafter from the specification and from the recital of the appended claims.

In the drawings:

Fig. 1 is a Side elevation of a conventional type of fresh pork Skinning machine equipped with an attachment, constructed according to the present invention, which will permit of using this machine for derinding smoked pork produGlS Fig. 2 is a fragmentary vertical sectional view on an enlarged scale showing the positions of the ucts.

2 various parts of the machine at the beginning of an operation of derinding a slab of bacon;

Fig. 3 is a similar view but showing the posi tions of the parts after the slab of bacon has been fully clamped and during the progress of the derinding operation;

Fig. 4 is a sectional view on the line 4--4 of Fig. 3 showing how the resiliently mounted lingers operate to hold the bacon against the knife to secure a uniform thickness of derinding cut regardless of the cross-sectional shape f the slab of bacon;

Fig. 5 is a fragmentary sectional view on the line 5-5 ofFig. 3;

Fig. 6 is a detail view showing the structure and mounting of one of the spring-pressed fingers; and

Fig. 7 is a view at right angles to Fig. 6 taken from the right of Fig. 6 and further illustrating the construction and mounting of the fingers and the manner in which the releasing handle is secured to the shaft on which the fingers are mounted.

In the drawings, we have shown how a known type of machine built for Skinning fresh pork may be modified according to the present invention to permit the machine being used for derinding bacon and other smoked pork prod- It is to be understood, however, that the invention is not limited to use on such a type machine.

The machine illustrated comprises a bed I0 which is supported by four legs II (Fig. 1), that are cross-braced as denoted at I2. The space between the legs is closed by side-plates I3. Pivotally mounted upon the bed I0, as by means of a pin I 5, is a feed plate or rest I6 over which the slab of bacon or other product, which is to be skinned or derinded, is fed by toothed feed rolls 4I (Figs. 2 and 3) to the elongated cutting knife 26.

rihe plate or rest I6 is adapted to be adjusted angularly about its pivot I5 so that the meat to be skinned or derinded will engage feed rolls 4I at the correct angle. This adjustment is effected by rotation of stopscrew l? which threads into a Aboss le formed on bed It.

The knife 2@ is adapted to be secured by bolts 2| to a rocker member 22. This member 22 is connected at opposite sides by means of pins 23 (Figs. l, 2 and 3) to a pair of parallel lever arms 25. Each of these lever arms is pivoted at one end by means of a pin 2&5 to the framework IIJ.

The two lever arms 25 are pivotally connected at their opposite end by means of pins 28 (Figs. i, 2, 3 and 4) with straps 29. These straps are secured to opposite ends of a bar 3| into which is threaded the upper end of the rod 3l). The lower end of this rod passes through a treadle lever 35 and is operatively connected to the lever by means of nuts 36 which thread onto the rod at opposite. sides of the treadle. rIhe lever is pivotally connected at its inner end, as denoted at 31 to one of the legs Il of the machine. A coil spring 33 whicch is connected at one end to the lever and at its opposite end to one of the legs l i serves to normally hold the lever in its upper position as shown in Fig. 2 with the knife b-lade 2B released and spaced a considerable distance above feed rolls lll, When the operator of the machine pushes down on the treadlet, however, he pulls the knife down from the position shown in Fig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3 close to the feed rolls dl where it will remove from the slab of pork, asV 'the` slab is fed over it, just the skin or rind.

' Journaled in the framework lil is a shaft lil to which is keyed the toothed feed discs or rolls el. These discs have relatively narrow faces, as shown in Fig. 4, and are provided with serrations around their peripheries as shown in Figs. 3 and 4 to bite into and grip the meat which is to be skinned. Between adjacent discs are mounted deflectors ed to prevent the skin or rind from becoming wound around the rollers as it is cut from a slab. These deflectors have generally triangularly shaped noses, as shown clearly in Figs. 2 and 3 which rest against one corner of the bed is.

l, The shaft et is adapted to be driven during operation of the machine from a motor i2 (Fig. 1) which is mounted upon a bracket B3 that is secured in any suitable manner to the supporting legs Il. The armature shaft 1255 (Fig. e) of the motor hasa worm 46 secured to it which meshes With a worm wheel 41 that is secured to shaft ed. When the machine is in operation, then, the rolls or discs :il are driven continuously, and they grip and feed the product, which is to be rie-skinned, from the rest i6 to the knife blade 2B with the result that the skin or rind R, which is to be removed, is stripped from the product and is carriedv under the knife blade 253 while the edible portion M of the meat is carried over the blade. Secured to the framework I as by means of screws G is a bracket 5l to which is fastened a guide plate 52 over which the de-skinned meat passes after the de-skinning operation, as shown in Fig. 3. An apron 54 (Fig. 3) which is secured to theframework l'in any suitable manner serves to guide the bacon rind or skin into a suitablev receptacle (not shown). Y

All of the machine, so far described, is of conventional construction. rihis machine is suited to skin' fresh pork, but will not handle smoked pork efficiently. The attachment, which constitutes the present invention and which permits this machine to be used for derinding smoked pork, will now be described. Fastened to the rocker member 22 by means of bolts 5! are a pair of spaced straps Sil. Secured to the free ends of these straps F53, as by means of bolts 52, are other straps 513 which carry pillow-blocks 55. J ournaled in these pillowblocks is a shaft 65. Fastened to the shaft ii as by means of pins li (Figs. 5 and 6) are a plurality of spaced arms "iii, In the example shown, there are seven of these arms l. Associated with each arm is a member l5. Each member is bifurcated at one end to provide bearing portions lwhich straddle the member 'iii and are rotatably journaled on the shaft @5. At its opposite end, each member 'i5 is also bifurcated to provide two contact fingers i8. Each of the arms 'it and the member l5, which is associated. therewith, are resiliently connected to move isogether by a bolt 3i? and a coil spring 8|. The bolt may be slightly bent, as shown in Fig. 6, and passes through openings in the finger member l5 and arm la?. The spring 3i surrounds the bolt and is interposed between the arm and the finger member. A butterfly nut 32, which threads onto the bolt Sii serves to permit adjustment of the tension of the spring.

The shaft 55 is biased in one direction about its axis by a pair of coil springs 99. Each of these springs is fastened at one end to a clip 9| (Fig. l) that is secured by a screw 92 to the base of the machine. The tivo springs are secured at their opposite ends, respectively, to levers 33 and gli, respectively. These levers are flxedly secured to the shaft 55 by set-screws `95. integral with the lever 3Q' is an operating handle se.

The ngers 'e3 re adapted to engage and hold the slab, which to be skinned, down against the feed rolls ii the knife 2i?. The pressure of the springs 8i adjusted so that the slab will be straightened out, and the plurality of lingers adapt themselves to the contour of the meat so that its under face is held fia-t against thefeed rolls, as clearly shown in 4. Hence, a uniform thickness of skin will be removed by the knife 2o as the slab is fed into the knife. The thickness of the skin removed can be controlled by adjustment of screws il. rfhus assurance can be had that the rind, and nothing but the rind is removed as the meat is fed into the knife, and that, moreover, the rind is taken off across the whole width of the slab of meat in one uniform cut.

The spring tension required on fingers 18 to effect the desired flattening out of the slab of meat is very considerable as will be seen from Fig. 4. In the instance shown the vslab of meat, which is to be derinded, is narrower than the eiective operating width of the machine with the result that the members 15 at the extreme right and extreme left do not engage the meat. These members are much lower than the other finger members because they are moved to the full limit of their downward movement by their springs 8l. A stop member 85 (Fig. 7), which is secured to pillow-block $5 and which is adapted to engage a stop lug that isfastened to lever S serves to limit downward movement of all the nger members. rEhe finger member 15, which is shown at the eXtreme right in Fig. 4, is also shown in dotted lines in Fig. 3.

The clamping action of fingers 15 under pressure of springs 3i is aided by the springs 9E) whose tension is increased when treadle 39 (Fig. 1) is pressed down to move knife 2G and with it finger members 'l5 from the inoperative posi tion of Fig. 2 to the operative position of Fig. 3. The tension of the springs 99 and 8l is such, therefore, as to clamp the meat being derinded very tightly. The last extremity of the slab is, there fore, inclined to be held in the machine because of the tension exerted. To release this tension,

. the handle Q5 (Fig. l) which is secured to lever' 94, may be depressed by the operator, causing the shaft 66 to be rocked about its axis in a coun ter-clockwise direction, as viewed in Fig. 1, rock.

ing the fingers l upwardly in a counter-clock wise direction and disengaging them from the slab. The lever ed, arms le and finger members 'i5 are shown in full lines in Fig. l in operative position, and in dotted lines in disengaged position. Y

- The operation of the machine will be understood from the preceding description, but irnay be briefly .summed up here. To use the machine for Skinning fresh pork products, the machine may be operated in known manner, and for this purpose the handle 96 may be depressed and, if desired, locked in depressed position, to hold the fingers 18 in inoperative position, for they are not required `for holdingv fresh pork against feed rolls or knife. The pressure of the knife when moved from inoperative to operative position is sufficient for this purpose. To use the machine vfor derinding bacon, the fingers are allowed to assume their normal positions shown in full lines in Figs. 1 and 2. With the .fingers in this position, the slab of meat, which is to be derinded, is pushed by the operator over'the guide plate I6 into the machine until it engages thel knife blade 2B. Then the operator steps on the treadle 39, pulling the lever 25 downwardly about its pivot 2S and forcing the knife 20 forwardly and downwardly from the position shown inFig. 2 to that shown in Fig. 3. This effectively engages the knife between the rind R and the edible portion M of the slab of meat. Simultaneously with the lowering of the knife, the strap members 60 are lowered, forcing the fingers 18 into clamping engagement with the upper face of the bacon slab. The springs 8| permit the several fingers to find their correct positions, as indicated in Fig. 4, so that the meat is heldv with sufficient pressure regardless of its shape and is held flat against the Viiat guide plate IB and feed rolls 4! so that the knife 20 will remove a uniform thickness of rind from the bottom of the slab. If the screws l1 have been adjusted properly, this insures removal of nothing but the rind from the slab. The operator then starts motor d2. Revolving rollers 4| then feed the slab into the knife 2! and the knife removes the rind R. The rind falls down, as shown in Fig. 3, clear of the edible portion M of the meat which rides over the knife blade 20 and the rocker member 22 falling over the guide plate 52 into a proper receptacle, not shown. When the eXtreme end of the slab is reached, the operator lifts his foot off the treadle 39 releasing the knife, and depresses handle 9S to lift the gripping fingers i8 out ofengaging operation.

Now while the invention has been described in connection with a particular embodiment thereof c it will be understood that it is capable of modication, and this application is intended to cover any variations, uses, or adaptations of the invention following, in general, the principles of the invention and including such departures from the present disclosure as come'within'known or customary practice in the art to which the invention pertains, and as may be applied to the essential features hereinbefore set forth and as Iall within the scope of the invention or the limits of the appended claims.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim is:

l. in a machine for skinning meat, a knife, a rockable support on which the knife is mounted, a guide over which the meat is Yadapted to be fed into the knife, a feed roller mounted adjacent said guide to Vengage one side of a piece of Vmeat to feed the meat into the knife, means for rocking the support to cause the knife to engage between the skin and the rest of the meat and to hold one side of the meat against the feed roller, and a plurality of spring-pressed fingers mounted on said support to be movable therewith and independently thereof and of one another and operable to press against. the other side of the meat to flatten the first named 'side of the meat against the .feed roller `as the. meat is fed into the knife by the roller.

2. In a machine for Skinning meat, va rockable member, a knife blade secured to said member, a guide over which meat isadapted to. he fed into the knife, a feed roller `mounted to engage one surface of the meatto feed 'the .meat into the knife, means for rocking the rockable member to cause the knife to engage betweenthe skin and the rest of the meat and to ihold one side of the meat against the feed roller, a supyport movably mounted on the rockable member, a plurality of spring-pressed fingersmounted-'on the support for pressing against the other side of the meat to vflatten the first named side of the meat againt the feed roller as the meat is fed into the knife,1means for normally moving 'said support on the rockable member in ra direction to apply greater pressure on said springpressed fingers, and means for moving the support in the opposite direction to move the spring-pressed fingers to released position.

3. In a machine for Skinning meat, a rockable member, a knife blade secured to said member, a guide over which meat is adapted to be fed intothe knife, a feed roller mounted Atoengage lone surface of the meat to feed the meat into the knife, means for rocking "the rockable member to cause the knife to engage between the Askin and the rest of the meat and to hold one side of the meat against'the feed-roller, a plurality of gripping fingers mounted on the rockable -member to be movable therewith andv independently thereof, means for constantly urging the gripping fingers into operative `position to press against the other side of the `meat to flatten the first named side of the meat'against the feed roller as the meat is fed into the knife, and separate means for resiliently urging all of said 'fingers as a unit together in such direction as vto press against the second named side of the meat, and means for releasing the last named means.

4. In a machine Afor, Skinning meat, a knife, a rockable support to which the knife is secured, a Yguide over which the meat is adapted' to be fed to the knife, a feed roller .mounted adjacent said guide to engage one side of a piece of meat, `means for rocking the support in one direction to cause the knife to engage between the Skin and the rest of the meat and to hold oneside of the meat against the feed roller, a shaftjournaled in the support, a plurality of arms secured 'to the shaft in axially spaced' relation, a plurality of gripping members AJiournaled on Athe shaft-one of' which is associated withl each. ,of 'the arms, springs interposed between each gripping member and its associated arm to constantly urge the gripping member into engagement with the other side of the meat to press the rst named Yside of the meat against the feed roller, and means for yrotating the roller to feed the meat into .the

knife.

5. In a machiney for Skinning. meat, yaknifda rockable support to which the knife is secured, a guide over which the meat .isadapted to be fed, a feed roller mounted adjacent said guide to engage one. side of a piece of meat to feed the meat to the knife, means `for rocking the support in one direction tocause the knife to Aengage between the skin and the rest of `the meat and to hold one side of the meat against the feed roller, a shaft journaled in the support, a plurality of arms secured to the shaft in axially spaced relation, a plurality of gripping members journaled on the shaft, one of which is associated with each arm, springs interposed between the gripping members and the corresponding arms to constantly urge the gripping members in one direction about the axis of the shaft to engage the gripping members with the other-side of the meat to press the rst named side of the meatagainst the feed roller, means constantly urging the shaft in the same direction about its axis, means for rocking the shaft in the opposite direction, and means for rotating the roller to feed the meat into the knife.

6. In a machine for Skinning meat, a support,

a knife blade secured to said support, means for moving the support to move the knife blade to 'and from operative, meat-engaging position,

.means for engaging the meat at one side therejto the second support to move said gripping ,members into position to engage the opposite side of the meat from the feed means when the knife blade is moved into engagement with the meat.

7. In a machine for Skinning meat, a knife, a guide over which the meat is adapted to be fed into the knife, a support, Va shaft jcurnaled in said support, a feed roller mounted adjacent said guide to engage one side of the meat to feed the `meat into the knife, a plurality or" fingers rotatably mounted on the shaft and projecting there- Afrom so that they extend in the direction of feed of the meat, means for moving the support in one direction to move the fingers into engagement with the meat at the opposite side there- ,of from saidfeed roller, and means for resiliently urging the ngers in one direction about lthe axis of said shaft to cause the fingers to grip lthe meat at said opposite side when the vsupport has been moved in said one direction.

8. In a machine for Skinning meat, a knife blade, a guide over which the meat is adapted to be fed Ainto the knife blade, a feed roller mounted to engage one side of the meat to feed the meat into the knife, a rockable support, a plurality of gripping ngers mounted on the rockable support to be movable therewith and independently thereof, means for moving the rockable support in one direction to move said 'grippingngers into `engagement with the meat, 'means' for .moving the gripping fingers individually independently of the Vsupport to press against the other side ofthe meat when said supfpcrtv has been moved in said one direction, to fiatten the first-named s ide of the meat against ,the `feed roller as the meat is fed into the knife, and separate'means for resiliently urging all of said 'fingers as a unit together, independently of the. support, inv such direction as to vpress against the second-named side of the meat, when the support has been moved in said one direction, and means for Yreleasing the last-named means.

9. In a machine for Skinning meat, a knife, a guide overwhich the Ameat is adapted to be fed, afeed roller mounted adjacentsaid guide to en- 'gage one side of a piece of meat to feed the meat to the knife, Aa rockable support, a shaft journaled in thesupport, a plurality of arms secured to the shaft in axially spaced relation, a plurality of gripping members journaled on the shaft, one of which is associated with each arm, means for rocking the support in one direction to move the gripping members into engagement with the other side of the meat, and springs interposed between the gripping members and the corresponding arms to urge the gripping members individually constantly in one direction about the axis of the shaft to engage the gripping members resiliently with the said other side of the meat.

10. In a machine for Skinning meat, a knife, a guide over which the meat is adapted to be fed, a feed roller mounted adjacent said guide to engage `one side of a piece of meat to feed the meat to the knife, a rockable support, a shaft journaled in the support, a plurality of arms secured to the shaft in axially spaced relation, a plurality of gripping members journaled on the shaft, one of which is associated with each arm, means for rocking the support in one direction to move the gripping members into engagement with the other side of the meat, springs interposed between the gripping members and the corresponding arms to urge the gripping members individually constantly in one direction about the axis of the shaft to engage the gripping members resiliently with the said other side of the meat, means constantly urging the shaft in the same direction about its axis, means for rocking the shaft in-the opposite direction, and means for rotating the roller to feed the meat int the knife.

11. In a Skinning machine, a frame, a roller, arms pivoted on a horizontal axis on the frame, a pressure shoe supported in said arms, said pressure shoe cooperating with said roller to form a Skinning means therewith, said pressure shoe being movable into operative relation with respect to said roller on downward movement of said arms, a table for supporting an object to be skinned in position for feeding the skin from the object between said roller and pressure shoe, hold down means supported above said table and adapted to be biased toward said table, means interconnecting said hold down means and said arms, and treadle means operable to move said arms downwardly.

ELBERT K, HICKNIAN.

JOSEPH B. LUBISCHER.

REFERENCES CITED The following references are of record in the file of this partent:

.UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Date Name y 181,486 Settle Aug. 22, 1876 897,204 Hathaway Aug. 25, 1908 1,334,694 Defre'sne et al. Mar. 23, 1920 1,376,810 I-Iieatzman May 3, 1921 1,416,723 v Kraift May 23, 1922 1,544,339 Y Oderman June 30, 1925 1,847,536 Pruefer Mar. 1, 1932 2,023,530 Kelly Dec. 10, 1935 2,155,730 Miller Apr. 25, 1939 2,280,059 Brustowsky Apr. 21, 1942 2,455,831 Townsend Dec. 7, 1948 FOREIGN PATENTS Number Country Date 619,131 France Dec. 27, 1926 

